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Lakers, Clippers to play rescheduled game April 9 at Staples

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LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Lakers' game against the LA Clippers that was postponed following the helicopter crash that took the lives of Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna and seven others has been rescheduled for April 9 at Staples Center, the league announced Friday.

The game, which originally was scheduled for Jan. 28, will tip off at 10:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast on TNT.

The league had to change three games on its master schedule in order to accommodate Lakers-Clippers. As a result, the Lakers will play three consecutive home games from April 7-9.

The last time a team played three days in a row was in March 2018, when the New Orleans Pelicans did so after their game against the Indiana Pacers in February 2018 had to be rescheduled because of a leak in the roof of the Smoothie King Center.

The NBA moved Warriors-Lakers, previously scheduled for April 9, to April 7. It also moved Bulls-Lakers, previously scheduled for April 7, to April 8.

The Clippers and Bulls, previously scheduled to play on April 8, will instead play a rare game on the same night as the NCAA men's basketball championship game on April 6. Typically the NBA does not hold games on the same night at the NCAA men's championship game.

By moving their game against Chicago from the originally scheduled date of April 8 to April 6, the Clippers will shift their back-to-back set to a home and away with the Bulls home game coming before a game at Utah on April 7. After a day off, the Clippers face the Lakers on April 9 to play three games in four nights.

ESPN's Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this report.